What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? – Isaiah 5: 4
When it comes to care of creation, unlike the landlord in this vineyard story, we have been woefully remiss in its care and we have exacerbated climate change by our arrogance. We may have viewed clear-cutting a tree-filled property as progress; we may love the convenience of miles and miles of super-highways and strip malls with vast concrete parking lots; we may cherish our beachfront property built on shifting sands; we may view recycling as an inconvenience; we may say nothing when corporations dump waste into our rivers and streams, discharge chemicals into our air, and want to put roads through pristine forests. As Pope Francis states, “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’ (Rom 8:22)” (Laudato Si’, 2). The environmental challenge that we are experiencing, and its human causes, affects us all (cf. Laudato Si’, 14) and demands our response. We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history” (2/15/16). What did we do to our vineyard? We cannot deny what is happening.
October marks the End of the Season of Creation observance with the Feast of St. Francis and the beginning of Respect Life Month. All life on this planet is interconnected and so should respecting human life be interconnected with respect for the life of the biodiverse natural world. Quite simply, human beings cannot exist without clean air and clean water.
Approximately 60% of the human body is made up of water. I mention this because several recent popes have noted that our interior lives are reflected in the natural world. Most succinctly, Pope Benedict XVI stated in 2005 that, “The external deserts in the world are growing because the internal deserts have become so vast.” Do you nourish your internal life with meditation and contemplation? Are you active with the community of faith in our parish? Are you using your God-given talents to help make a better common home for future generations?
What more can you do for the vineyard?
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director
Office of Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC